“A Boomerang Birthday” is one of the outstanding stories of the second biannual International Short Story Contest 2017 written by Aditi Vishwanath, India.

A Boomerang Birthday

“Mom! I’m back home”, said Chelsea urging to go somewhere. As she dropped her bag on the bed and threw her uniform on the floor after returning from school, her mother observed the rare excitement on Chelsea’s face. She asked, “Chelsea, today you are looking very enthusiastic, isn’t it?”. Chelsea was extremely happy but she did not want to reveal the truth. She said, “Yes mom, because Isabelle is hosting a party today so I have to attend her place. Mom, I’m in a hurry now. Bye!”. Because she did not want to reveal the plan to her mother so early, she had lied to her mother.

Chelsea’s mother was very surprised to see the erratic excitement on her daughter’s face. It had been months since she had been happy. Her family had been a rich, happy family of the entire city from generations but after the early death of Chelsea’s father Chad due to a miserable accident, Chelsea and her mother Catherine had to live alone, managing all the riches earned by Chad. Even though they were rich now, they weren’t happy. Chelsea, who had been tremendously disappointed hearing her father’s death spent many hours crying and recalling the memories of past.

So, seeing a sudden excitement in Chelsea’s face was what made Catherine quite astonished.

Few days passed. Now Catherine had been thinking of her daughter Chelsea’s 12th year birthday celebration. She thought that instead of surprising her young daughter, it would be better if she would ask her what she wanted for her birthday directly.

When Chelsea returned back home, her mother asked her, “My dear. You know that after two weeks, you’ll be celebrating your 12th year birthday. So, tell me child, what do you want for your birthday?”. Hearing this Chelsea replied, “Mom, I don’t expect anything for my birthday this year nor do I require anything”. This made Catherine quite surprised. Chelsea always would have waited for months for the arrival of her birthday. She always expected a grand celebration with all her relatives and friends. However, the fact that her father is not alive anymore may have struck to Chelsea’s mind and may have lost all her hopes of celebrating her birthday, thought Catherine at the very next moment.

After two weeks, on the day of Chelsea’s birthday, Catherine noticed early in the morning that her daughter was not there in the house. She checked the house several times, but Chelsea was found nowhere. Catherine was shocked. She had searched the house thousand times until it had been afternoon. She had almost lost all the hopes of getting her daughter back and started crying hopelessly.

Suddenly, the bell rang and Catherine opened the door. To her surprise, it was Chelsea and many other children who seemed to be in a poor state. For once, Catherine was relieved to see her daughter return back home. But she was very perplexed to see other unknown children along with her. She asked, “Chelsea, who are these children? I don’t know any of them”. Chelsea thought that this was the ideal time to reveal the plan to her mom. So, she said, “Mom, they are all my friends with whom I want to celebrate my birthday today. After dad’s death, one day we were taken to an orphanage by the school. There I saw many people who were suffering more than me without having any parents. I felt very sorry for them. The next day I visited the orphanage alone and asked all about their miserable conditions. I encouraged them, mustered confidence in them and finally made them smile as a friend. Then are now my best friends. So, tell me mom; how can I ever celebrate my birthday without my best friends?”. This made Catherine feel very proud for her daughter. She felt herself fortunate to be blessed with such a generous daughter. She then said, “Chelsea, get ready quickly. Don’t you want to celebrate your birthday?”